Searle Brothers v. Searle
588 P.2d 689 (
Yeazell, pp. 818-822
Facts: Edlean sued Woodey for divorce and was awarded Slaugh
House. Her sons later sued her for one
half of the house.
Issue: Should the Searle Brothers be bound by the final judgment
of the divorce case as a matter of either issue preclusion or claim preclusion?
Rule: Just because you could have been a party to a
prior action but failed to get involved doesn’t bar you from litigating your
own claim.
Analysis: Whaaaaa! This
one’s boring. They seem to be talking
about both claim preclusion and issue preclusion all mixed together.
Conclusion: The court reverses the decision of the trial court
and remands for a trial.